I'm A Kid?
by RedWillowPictures
Summary: When something goes wrong with his regeneration, the Doctor finds that his 12th regeneration is a teenaged child. Join him and his newest partner on their many adventures! Soon to become a voice series on Youtube! Rated T for future violence.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm... A Kid?**

Written by Silme and Zoolala

Credits to original owners of Doctor Who, idk who that is. ;-;

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Uploading a sort of roleplay I did a few days ago, seeing as I'm very tired and busy these days. I thought I'd at least give you all something. ^^; There is going to be a voice series of this at some point. I roleplayed as Nat, my friend as our idea of the 12th Doctor.

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A young girl stepped into the sunlight, one arm wrapped tightly around a stack of books, the other dangling free, swinging as the girl walked, or rather, ran. The human was about 13 years of age, with shoulder length brown hair that looked as if it had been brushed in a hurry. Natalie huffed nervously, eyes wide, muttering under her breath.

_"I'm going to be late, please no. That'll be the tenth time this year."_

The teen glanced about nervously, before halting in her tracks as a strange noise filled her ears. She had never heard a noise like that before. She shook her head and started walking again, heart beating frantically. She couldn't be late again. She'd get detention.

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The cloister bell rang loudly in his ears. "It's alright! It's alright! What's wrong, dear?" Sparks flew across the main control room of his TARDIS. Okay, so he couldn't make it outside before he regenerated. So, he shouldn't have confronted that fleet of Sontaarans. How was he supposed know they were mid-battle?

"Because they're always mid-battle, you thick idiot!" So, the TARDIS was a little on fire. Other than that, everything was fine! Taller than usual, but fine! He wiped his hair back, noticing gladly that he still had hair, and flung himself at the console, pulling the globe plotter and stabilizers. The TARDIS sighed, wheezed, and materialized, or at least, he thought she did. The familiar materializing noises kicked in, and he ran for the doors, gasping for air and hoping he aimed correctly. He flung open the doors, breathing in the glorious oxygen.

"Success! We did it, old girl!" He embraced his TARDIS, but drew his arms back in shock, noticing the TARDIS shaking in protest.

"At what cost...?!" He said, looking at his hands.

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Gears whirred in Natalie's mind. For some reason she felt like she needed to turn back, like she needed to find out what the source of that strange noise was. She hesitated. Explore the noise, or get to school on time. Detention, no detention.

Well, she did crave a good mystery. She turned and ran back in the direction of the noise, in an old alleyway. She poked her head around the corner cautiously, breathing heavily. There was a strange blue box, and a strange boy. She backed away slowly, only to trip over a box and fall backward, landing heavily on her back with a shocked cry.

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A child's cry ripped his gaze from his hands and in the direction towards the opening of the alley he had landed in. A figure appeared collapsed on the hard ground. Expecting the worst, The Doctor sprinted towards the body, sighing in relief as she had just stumbled. He examined her; human, female, verge of adolescence, apparently in a hurry...

"Quite the clumsy one we have here yeah? Need a hand?" He extended his arm downwards, having to actually bend downwards further than usual. Suddenly, a wave of pain washed through him, causing him to also fall in front of the girl. He gasped, the familiar regeneration energy stinging in his veins.

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Natalie stared up at the young male offering her a hand, frowning slightly as he called her clumsy. "I'm not- Are you alright?" She gasped as he suddenly fell down in front of her. She stood up slowly, a smirk suddenly crossing her lips. She held out one hand to help him up, green eyes sparkling in humor.

"Quite the clumsy one we have here?" She quoted, grinning now.

The Doctor babbled, frustrated at being one-upped.

"Of course I'm alright; I'm always alright. I'm just not done yet." He quickly stood up, dusting himself off. "Sorry if I'm being rude, but where and when are we? I wasn't looking at scanner correctly." He turned back slightly to the TARDIS, who was smoking, the bulb on the top shattered. "My poor dear, bit of a mess, still rebuilding...Anyways! Place? Time? Planet?" He looked around, feeling like he had forgotten something.

"Oh yes!" He shouted suddenly, "Do you perhaps have a mirror on you?" My goodness, he was pale...

Natalie stared at him. Did he hit his head when he fell?

"Ermm, July 29, 2012. We're in Grand Rapids, Michigan. United States... Planet Earth? And did you just call that blue box your dear? Wonderful, you're insane." The girl backed away from him a few steps, raising one eyebrow when he asked for a mirror. "I-I think I do..." She fumbled with something in her pocket before tossing a small pocket mirror to him.

The Doctor caught the small item easily.

"Don't call her a box! She gets offended very easily, and I have to put up with the attitude!" He shook the 'mirror' at her in a scolding motion, then flashed her a smiled, trying to reassure the girl. Returning to the mirror, he studied it, confused. It was a small circle, resembling a clam of some sort. Earth and its fads...

"United States you say? Blimey... Well, better than London, I guess. They've had quite enough interaction from me these past few years; better give them a break." He flipped open the clam. "Now! What have I got this ti-" His mouth flew open.

Pale skin, freckles here and there, boyish features... red hair?! Well, not his dream red hair, it still was a little brown, but it definitely was a fiery dirty orange. "Ginger! I'm a Ginger!" He squealed "Finally! After all this time! Twelfth time's the charm!" He turned back to his TARDIS. "Ginger!" She weakly wheezed in excitement, poor girl. But something else caught his eye... Popping the mirror back open, he studied his face again. Boyish features... "What?...What?!"

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"Now I really know you're crazy. And, you've been to London before? I don't know whether or not to believe you, but if you're telling the truth, I'm quite jealous." The girl eyed him nervously, then glanced down at the pocket where her phone lay hidden. If he did anything too crazy, she could easily call for help. But for now she simply watched him as he flipped out over being a ginger.

He looked down at himself: His clothes were about two sizes too big. He wiggled his toes- he couldn't feel the ends. So he was young this time! How young? Looking over himself again, he ball-parked thirteen... "What... I'm a kid!?

Something about how he acted made her relax a bit, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Natalie examined his appearance from afar. Baggy clothes, a few sizes to big. Ruffled ginger hair, not a very clean face. She wondered if he lived out on the streets. Something else quickly caught her attention, and she raised one eyebrow.

"Well, of course you're a kid. You're acting like one, that's for sure. By the way, what's your name? I'm Natalie."

The Doctor smiled, trying to distract himself from his faulty regeneration.

"Natalie, nice name. Pretty name." His shaky hands pulled his new hair away from his face while he chuckled. "I apologize for seeming vague, but I can't really help it at the moment. I've got stuff... long story, incredibly interesting, incredibly busy at the moment!" He paused, then furrowed his brow. "Or maybe I'm just vague... I'm not quite sure who I am yet." He turned back towards the TARDIS, pressing his ear against one of the chipped wooden doors. It rumbled angrily. "That's incredibly not good! No need to have a tantrum; you've done this before."

He turned back to Natalie. "As soon as she's done rebuilding, we'll be out of your hair." The Doctor then realized he still was holding her mirror, "Oh! Here's your clam- Mirror! Here's your mirror back. Thanks." He put his hands in his huge pockets, feeling for his sonic. "Still here. Thank goodness!" He looked up again, smiling. "The Doctor by the way- that's my name. Don't worry, a lot of people are jealous- no one can have as great of a title. So, if you feel the need to scream a little, don't feel self-conscious; I won't mind." He smiled to himself at that.

Natalie stared at him. "R-Rebuilding? That thing can rebuild itself? But that's not possible!" She took a few steps closer to him, her head tilting, causing several strands of hair to fall in front of her eyes. She brushed them away impatiently. "It's a long story, eh? I have time." Now that was a lie, but she wanted to find out more about this boy, what did he just say his name was? The Doctor? She caught her mirror and placed it back in her pocket.

"But you're just a kid, you can't be a Doctor. You couldn't even have a job at your age." She murmured, quite confused, though she couldn't help but chuckle at his humor.

The Doctor chuckled. "Not possible...Ha! I'll have you know that I do a lot of 'not possible' things." He patted his TARDIS. "And, SHE can do most impossible as well. As for me, 'The Doctor's not a job- Well, not all the time-Well, a lot of the time, but I get some time off."

He crossed his arms at Natalie; seeing her flustered state, and the fact that he was a genius, of course, he highly doubted that she had the time. "Let's just paraphrase and say that I'm really, really old. I've seen plenty enough to know that you are lying to me. I don't appreciate that," He said with a stone face, but couldn't hold it and burst out laughing. "Sorry, I couldn't do that! I lie all the time! Have to; keeps your kind safe." Settling back down, he leaned forward, "Look at my eyes and tell me I'm a kid. These are old, old eyes."

Natalie huffed at his continuing amusement, though she fought to hide a small smile herself. "Is right now your 'time off'?" She inquired, chuckling slightly. He didn't seem to be a very serious boy, unlike many she had met. A car whizzed past the alley they were in and a soft wind ruffled her scarf. Well, it wasn't a real scarf, more like just a fashion scarf, but everyone these days was wearing them.

His sudden change in mood made her straighten up. He knew she had lied, but she hadn't really tried to had it, had she? Wait a second...

"My kind? What do you mean-?" He continued to speak, and she listened intently, only to blink as he leaned forward until his face was only inches away from hers. she looked into his eyes. It was true. His eyes looked as if they had seen everything, and they certainly did not look the eyes of a kid.

"So, if you aren't a kid, what are you?" She frowned, now crossing her arms as if to mimic the Doctor.

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There, that's enough for today. I'm off to write! Byeeee ^^


	2. Chapter 2

View First Page For this Stuff

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Another update, all in one day. Expect another in... Hmmm, 10 minutes? And another later tonight. Making up for inactivity. I really appreciate reviews! ^^;

-Silme

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The Doctor smiled and leaned back to his original standing position. "I'm The Doctor- I said that already, didn't I? You don't seem that thick at first glance. As for your 'kind', you are human right? I'm pretty sure that no one is planning to enslave you now, but 2070 is rubbish- stay indoors, so everything should be top notch here for a level five planet." He laughed.

"You guys are so tiny, and clueless, but I commend your planet's ignorance." Something burned in his pocket. Reaching inside, he pulled out a yale key. "Hmm... not warm enough." He turned completely around and shouted at the TARDIS. "You done yet, Dear? In a bit of a hurry- I'm trying to impress someone!" The TARDIS wheezed, annoyed. He turned around sheepishly. "Don't mind her; she's mad that she has to put up with a human in her presence again."

"Well, of course I'm human." She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. "And I suppose you're not? Wait, did you say enslave?" The girl shook her head, trying to work everything out. "2070? You're acting like you're some sort of time traveler, you're honestly scaring me quite a bit." The teen studied the blue box.

The Doctor smiled again- this was expected. "Nope! Put a lot into it, though. As for enslave, yes, I did! But the enslavers do a terrible job." He flashed a grin, "I took care of it, though. Hence the Boy Wonder you see today. It's a shame- I quite liked my last face." He took the time to look at something behind Natalie, with a wistful smile on his face. "Hair was a bit floppy, but boy, could I pull of a bow tie which," He paused for breath, "is cool, so don't protest."

"Also, you're calling that a her? What is it- I mean, what is she? And why is she making all of that noise? It's as if she's alive."

"And the 'box.' Where do I start? She's a sort a ship, more of a mix between a spaceship and time machine." He waved his hands around a bit to help him find his words. "But her preferred name is the TARDIS- an anagram. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, and I guess you could say I live there." He shoved the key back in his pocket. "I made a bit of a firey mess in there, so she's rebuilding herself," He turned his head a shouted, "But she still has the nerve to put all of the blame on me, Ms. 'I can't outrun a simple fleet of Sontaarans!' Bless."

Natalie followed his every word intently, though it confused her. "TARDIS, eh? So you _are_ a time traveler!" She grinned, her green eyes bright with excitement. "But wait, it's so small, how do you live in there?" She frowned, watching him. He seemed dead serious, so he was either insane, or telling the truth. "And... What's a Sontaaran? Is that an alien too, er, Doctor?"

"Oh, a Sontaaran? Just an ugly little potato-thing. Don't worry about it. The TARDIS, however..." His eyes lit up as he pulled out the key again, which was now glowing orange. "Would you like to find out?" He clapped his hands and ran towards the looming blue box. unlocking the door, he pulled on the doors, but nothing happened. He pulled again- still nothing. "Stupid!" He exclaimed, slapping his forehead, the pushed this time. The doors swung open and he disappeared into the TARDIS, sticking a hand out of the door to gesture Natalie inwards.

Natalie forced out a chuckle. "Potato-thing? You're very good at describing things, aren't you?" She said sarcastically, though the edge in her voice was almost gone. She nodded slowly at his question and watched as he attempted to open it. When he finally pushed the door open, she chuckled, quite amused.

"There's no way I could fit in there too!" She exclaimed when he gestured her inside. She slowly approached it, before rolling her eyes. "Oh, whatever!" She bounded through the door, eyes widening at the wondrous sight that greeted her.

The Doctor swirled around in the new TARDIS. "Beautiful, yeah? Thanks for tidying up, old girl." The TARDIS hummed happily in response. "I had expected her to switch back to Coral Font, but she seems to fancy this one." The console sat in the center per usual, crowded with mysterious switches and buttons. "Hmm, new console, though. What do you do?" He muttered as he stood on his tiptoes to reach a strange pump. Pushing it, a blue thick liquid poured out on his hand, "Ack! Blue paint? Who's in need of paint?! I think you took it too far this time, dear. Attractive, nonetheless."

He stood back and marveled the console, before turning back to Natalie. "So! Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."

Natalie halted and stared at the inside of the TARDIS, her eyes wide and heart beating frantically. "How is this even... This shouldn't be..." She fell silent, simply walking about the massive interior, not touching anything, merely letting it all sink in. When the Doctor turned back to address her, looking quite amused, she merely stared, before forcing out a word. "... Amazing."

The Doctor grinned and walked briskly over to Natalie, tapping the tip of her nose and waggling his light eyebrows.

Natalie chuckled when he tapped her nose, still not ready to say much.

"An understatement at the least! Any time and any place in the universe, all easily done!" The Doctor pulled out his sonic, flicking the end when it wouldn't function. "Every time- fried." Shoving it back in his pocket, he clapped his hands loudly and turned Natalie around, leading her to the doors.

"Well, it was fantastic meeting you! Thanks for all your help and what not, but I'm extremely busy; places to go, people to see and I'm late for my knitting lesson. You on the other hand, have school, I assume!" He chuckled at the 'school' "I myself am too old for school, so I'll be on my way. Forget what you saw, and continue to lead a normal boring human life!" He stopped when they were near the doors. "Well... I guess this is goodbye! Say hi to your mum for me!"

The Doctor frowned. "Yeah, basically... Yeah." He blushed at her attempt at defying him.

"Well I guess you can come with-" He hit the sides of his head to stop himself. "No! No, no no no no! Way too dangerous!" He grew flustered, pacing around the glimmering TARDIS, obviously fighting himself. "I-I just died! About an hour ago! And I'm a bloody Time Lord!" He chuckled and straightened his bow tie- too big to him, of course, saying "A ginger Time Lord. Anyways, how am I supposed to look after an adolescent human girl?!" The TARDIS wheezed in protest. "Whose side are you on?! I thought you couldn't stand humans! They're competition, am I right?" The TARDIS responded with a chime of it's cloister bell.

"Alright! Calm down! You just got fixed up, dear!"

Natalie remained there with her arms crossed as the Doctor began arguing with himself, talking about having died and some things she couldn't understand. He was talking very fast. "So? Are you going to sit here arguing with yourself and the TARDIS all day, Doctor?" She suddenly broke in, chuckling.

The Doctor snapped his head and focused his attention back on the girl behind him. "No!" He blushed, "Right! Got side-tracked! That's new; am I easily distracted? Anyways! Let's get you out of here!" He walked towards the doors and pulled. Nothing. He pulled an embarrassed smile. "How do I always get it wrong? Excuse me." The Doctor pushed at the doors. Nothing. "What?!" He whipped around and leaned against the door, sliding to the floor.

_Well, he's not lying. But he still might be crazy. _Natalie followed him, and cocked her head when he seemed unable to open the doors, no matter what he tried.

"Brilliant. Well you got what you wanted." he said, smiling at Natalie. "The TARDIS seems to fancy you." He stood up, and walked quickly to the middle console. "You might want to sit." He paused and looked over at an overhead screen. "Highly inappropriate choice of places, honey." He muttered quietly. He closed his eyes tightly and pinched his nose. "Okay! Natalie! How about a quick... trip. And I mean quick." He emphasized, seemingly convincing himself more than the teenager in front of him.

"And... Is that good?" She asked when the Doctor said the TARDIS fancied her. At his next words, she sat down next to a metal bar, which she grabbed onto when he mentioned a trip. "Erm, sure, I guess?" She chuckled nervously.

"Oh yeah, sure! Rather her like you than dislike you." The doctor groaned at the scanner in front of him. "Well, I hope you like beaches, because that's where she's sending us." He ran back to the console, flipped a few switches, and sighed. "Well, I've charted her to the coordinates, and since it's a ways away, I figured now is the time for us to receive some background information on each other. Answer some questions and what not. For instance: I have no memory of what I was like as a teen, so; what do these 'teenagers' do nowadays?"

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There. Next update coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

View first page for info.

New chapter, everyone! Hope you enjoy! ^^;

-Silme and Zoolala

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The girl listened to his question, before nodding. She quickly pulled her hair back in a ponytail with an elastic around her wrist, before responding.

"Honestly, most teens these days, and least where I live, are horribly disobedient, or stuck up. That's why I don't like school."

The Doctor shrugged off his large tweed jacket and tossed it somewhere randomly behind him, and laughed. "No different from the last time I asked! And don't get me started on school!" He smiled vaguely. "It feels like only yesterday I... borrowed... the TARDIS from that time museum. You guys should get one around here. They're hits where I'm from." He sat on the edge of the console, causing a whine of protest from the vessel.

"Time museum? There's something I've never heard of before." Natalie giggled, staring up at him in curiosity. She had never been this relaxed with someone she had just met before, it was so strange. She hardly knew him, but he seemed so... Safe.

"Okay, your turn for a question!" He prompted brightly.

"A question? Umm, let me think..." She paused, searching for the best question to ask. "Where are you from?"

The Doctor smiled a polite smile, and painfully answered, "I'm from Gallifrey; your average level fifteen planet, nothing... special, I'm afraid." He reached behind his head. "But," His eyes lit up, just enough to mask tears. _'The Doctor doesn't get emotional! Ugh, it's these teen "hormones"'_ he thought. "But, you, however, are from Earth! That's what all the buzz is about nowadays- the planet in the spotlight! How does it feel?" He looked at her thoughtfully. "Because all of this can be a little... overwhelming. Trust me." This felt good; a question for a question whilst the TARDIS did it's thing.

Natalie examined the Doctor's poker face, frowning but saying nothing in response. "Buzz? Do other planets know we exist? And what do you mean by, all of this?" The girl's green eyes locked into his, searching for the answers to her unasked questions, before blinking. "Oops, sorry, your turn for a question."

The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "I don't mind. I like being asked questions. And yes, your planet is very well known. Earth isn't that mush of a threat, so people usually visit here for either pleasure or they want to try and take advantage of it and try to rule it. That, however," He shook his pointer finger, "Is against the rules, so someone has to enforce them, and that someone just so happens to be me." He then waved his hands in the air, gesturing to their surroundings. "As for 'all of this', It just occurred to me that you just ran off with a stranger in a spaceship shaped like a police box traveling to a mysterious planet... and you appear to be fine; usually that tends to put people on the fritz. I just find that amazing."

"So, you're like a policema- Oops, doing it again. Sorry." She apologized, blushing fiercely. "Honestly, I am a bit confused as to why I even came inside of this 'spaceship'. I suppose I like adventure a bit too much. And it's not as if I have a nice family to go back to. I only have my father, and he... Well, you'll find out sometime, I'm sure."

He listened intently, noting her feelings about her family. "Why do you think I left home in the first place?" He leaned his head back and sighed. "The whole universe begging to be explored!"

She looked away for a moment, before turning back to him, keeping her head down. "But for some reason, you're not all that strange. Have you visited Michigan before, Doctor?"

The Doctor bit his lip. "Nope! Although I have been to New York a few times, and once I visited Utah," He shuddered, "Not the best time; got a bit glitchy in the middle of that adventure, but nevertheless sorta worked out in the end."

Noticing the force of her bright green eyes, it made him wonder... "My turn: what color are my eyes?"

She forced a grin at his next question, forcing the pushed up emotions back down again. "Like a bluish gray, I suppose."

Taking in a deep breath, he smiled at her description of his eyes. "Everything's new, I guess. I was getting sick of all the brown." He rocked back and forth on his heels, grinning. "The more you get to know me Natalie, the more you'll understand about what true adventure is."

"I've never been to either of those places, by the way. Stuck in the same state, even the same city, my entire life. I suppose that's why I followed you in. I doubt anybody else in Grand Rapids would have." Natalie grinned weakly. "Sounds fantastic, the way you describe adventure." She chuckled, excitement gleaming in her eyes. "I suppose I'll have time enough to get to know you, as the TARDIS doesn't seem to obey you very well."

"Tell me about it. Yet she still doesn't understand that she can't fly herself!" The Doctor said, just a little loudly, "Only River and I can fly you sweetheart, so you're not going anywhere!" He smiled. "She can set herself up on places where she wishes to go, but I still have to perform the necessary task of flip-switching." On that note, the sound of a phone echoed throughout the console room. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Speak of the devil."

"River? Who's River?" The girl asked curiously, tilting her head, before starting as the sudden noise of a telephone ringing interrupted her thought process.

The Doctor groaned. "The reason I have to end this conversation. Excuse me." With a wink, he walked over to the old fifties' phone installed in the console, took a deep breath, and picked it up. "Hello, River, I assume." He put his hand over the phone and mouthed 'Sorry' to Natalie with his best ''I'll explain later" face, then pressed the speaker button. A sleek tone purred from the phone; "Hello Sweetie... My my, Doctor; did you put me on speaker?" The Doctor blushed, "No need to warn you then, I guess." The voice erupted yet again. "Ooh! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I thought so; your future just changed. You've gone all baby faced, haven't you? Aww..."

Natalie sat patiently as the Doctor answered the phone, fiddling with her leather jacket that was tied around her waist. Why she had taken it with her in the middle of July, she had no idea. Perhaps it would come in use later. Natalie gazed about the TARDIS with interest in her eyes.

The Doctor frowned. "Well, there's no point in calling me if there's no emergency. Goodbye, River." He pulled the phone away from his ear, but quickly pulled it back up to utter a small "Don't call me for fun again! You embarrass me!" He slammed the phone down and exhaled a breath he had been holding for who knows how long. Looking Natalie over, he commented, "Bit hot for July isn't it? Especially where we're going."

"Well, I'm not exactly wearing it, am I, Doctor?" Natalie shot back, hiding a grin of amusement. The Doctor smiled, tapping his head. "Well, it's the fact that you have it with you."

"Was that your girlfriend?" She tossed her mirror up and down, catching it and lobbing it back up into the air as she watched the Doctor.

At the mention of River, he paled. "No, actually. Just an annoying friend. She's from another time stream, and when she needs help all she can do is call. Literally. Sometimes, however, she gets a little proud and decides to abuse the phone." Changing the subject, he grinned and snatched the mirror mid air, tossing it up and down himself. "There's a wardrobe upstairs with a lot of clothes. If you need to change. We're almost there; and I need a decent shirt."

"She's lucky she even gets to use the phone. I don't have one, because of my dad." Nat chuckled, then listened as he started speaking about a wardrobe. "I'm fine for now, I mean, I have my T-Shirt. You, on the other hand, look like you need clothes that actually fit you."

The Doctor pulled a small smile. "I'm starting to like this 'dad' a little less and less." He pulled the scanner over and examined it. "Nearly there. Hmph! Why the TARDIS is so picky about her beach planets, I have no idea!" He switched the scanner off. "Right! Two minutes- I'll be right back." With that, he ran up the spiral stairs to the vast wardrobe.

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Hope you enjoyed! Please review! ^^


	4. Chapter 4

View first page for info!

Enjoy Chapter 4!

-Silme and Zoolala

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The Doctor slid down the pole of the staircase. "Okay! Good to be in clothes that fit again." He was dressed in a simple white button down, complete with bow tie, topped with a black leather jacket. His pants were the similar dark pants he had on earlier, only better fit, and he had replaced the laceup boots with simple trainers. His orange hair was no longer a mess; it was still shaggy, but was combed nonetheless.

Natalie examined the Doctor, grinning. "You look... Better than before, at least." She teased, before standing up quickly as a ding sounded.

"Right." He said, breathing heavy. He checked the scanner, then back to Natalie, waggling his eyebrows. "You ready?"

She looked at the Doctor, suddenly nervous. Natalie took a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled. "Good, because I'll just be one more minute." At that, he ran towards the console, typed something on an empty typewriter, and flipped at something similar to the stick shift in a car. He then paused and straightened the bow tie he was wearing. "I always thought I'd get tired of these things. Never do!" The TARDIS wheezed it's familiar materializing wheeze, and the Doctor laughed. He strolled casually towards the doors, placed a hand on one of the handles, and stuck his hand out to Natalie, wiggling his fingers enticingly. "Here goes."

_He is quite strange. But then again, I suppose I'm quite strange too, I mean, I didn't object to going with him._ Natalie thought, shrugging. She walked toward where the Doctor was standing, about to open the door. She cautiously took his hand and stared at the door, wondering what could possibly be out there. He said a beach, but what beach? When? She was excited to find out.

With a wide grin, The Doctor pushed open the doors, sunlight illuminating the TARDIS. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he led Natalie outside. "Congratulations, Natalie! You are now a space-traveler! Welcome to Sigma Beach 9, or 'spine', if you want to get silly."

"Space traveler? I like the sound of that." Natalie giggled, brushing her hair out of her face as she stepped out of the door. "Oh, wow..." She breathed, eyes widening to take in the brilliant sight.

The sand was a glittering turquoise, and the sky was lined with two suns. "Lovely beach, this one." The Doctor turned to Natalie. "The moons and suns are always around at the same time, so it's always day. But it's nice to be able to see all three moons."

She bent down, letting her fingers brush the smooth blue sand, before looking up at the sky as she listened to the Doctor. "It is beautiful, the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, because I've never seen a beach before. I don't suppose they all have blue sand though." She glanced at him, before looking back up at the sky to examine it. "But Doctor, there's only two moons..."

The Doctor laughed. "No, there's three." He looked up, and sure enough, there were only two moons.

"No... No! I've been here plenty of times! Plenty enough to know that there are three moons!" He pointed in the sky to where the supposed third moon was to be located.

"No, I'm pretty sure there's only two." Natalie replied, eyes widening. 'Why? Is that bad?"

"Somethings not right here..." He picked up a handful of the blue sand and sniffed it a few times. "Nope, definitely wrong." He sniffed the sand again, and then dropped it suddenly, his face going pale.

She moved closer to him when she noticed the color fading from his face. "What's wrong? What's happening, Doctor?" She murmured, as quietly as she could manage.

The Doctor frowned. "Nothing. Nothings happening, because it has already happened. We came a little late for the actual 'happening.'" He straightened his bright green bow tie nervously.

Natalie watched him curiously as he attempted to explain time related stuff to her. "Alright, alright, it's already happened." She agreed.

"How can I put this? Something has visited here; something... nasty. I've got a good idea of what the offender is, though!" he added, as though to try and lighten the mood.

The girl huffed, before narrowing her eyes as he mentioned knowing who had done this. "Alright, who was it then, Doctor?"

"Well, according to my own personal experience, there's only once species who has this fascination with moons." He stopped to think, "Yep, it has to be the Judoon. They're these rhino... things. They're not exactly 'evil'; They're actually law enforcers, who often prefer moons to do their justice on. They must be tracking a criminal, which of course, is fine." He stuck his tongue out, "But!" He started pacing along the sand. "You can't put a perception filter on the object to make it invisible; Naughty!"

Natalie listened intently, wanting to learn all she could on this trip, after all, it wasn't often you went with a time traveler to another planet. When he started pacing, she laughed. It reminded her of one of her friends that had moved away earlier that year, well, on Earth. That friend could never sit still. When he started talking about filters, she blinked. "You lost me there. Perce-what?"

The Doctor looked back. "Perception filter! It alters your brain and changes what your brain sees there. The Judoon have placed one on the third moon. The moon is still there, but they just don't want the inhabitants of SB9 to notice the bases they built there." He knitted his eyebrows. "But that's weird! They never do that on planets this small! They must be hiding." Quietly, he added, "Or, that must be one target they're chasing."

Natalie nodded, beginning to understand what he was talking about. But she stayed silent, letting him figure it out by himself. The teen didn't want to throw him off track if he was onto something. He seemed quite like a policeman himself.

The Doctor suddenly smiled. "Of course! I'm an idiot!"

"Errmm, okay?" Natalie looked curiously at him.

He dusted his hands of, getting the rest of the blue sand off, and ran back to the TARDIS, laughing. He opened the doors, looking back with an innocent face. "You coming Natalie?" Without another word, he vanished into the TARDIS, leaving the doors wide open.

She darted after the Doctor, green eyes wide. "Wait for me, Doctor!" Natalie passed through the doors, shutting them behind her and following the Doctor around the inside of the TARDIS.

"Okay- Change of plans: Mini trip now, beach later. Because... we are going to the moon!" He rubbed his hands together excitedly when he saw Natalie closing the doors behind her.

"The moon? We won't be able to breathe though... You know what, I give up with you, whatever." She laughed and stood on the other side of the console, eyes twinkling.

"Help me with the console, will you? It's not made for one person to operate." He stared at the phone in which had received a call earlier, then snapped back. He pulled down the suspended scanner, typed something on the typewriter, and laughed. "Fun part now; random flip-switching is the real treat."

Natalie watched him, all worries forgotten. "What, so you don't know how to drive this?"

"I'll have you know that I am brilliant at flying the TARDIS. I know her forwards and backwards, right dear?" The control room shook, knocking the clumsy Doctor into the console. "Very funny. You're one to complain."

Natalie stifled a giggle as the TARDIS knocked the Doctor into the control panel. "If I could, I'd high-five you for that." She murmured to the TARDIS, before glancing back at the Doctor.

He pulled a crank, and a yellow paste shot out on his hand. "Blegh! I hate mustard! How your planet consumes it daily, I don't understand."

"I happen to like mustard, thank you very much. I'll have to remember that you don't like it." The interior of the TARDIS swerved violently, and Natalie quickly grabbed onto a bar on the console placed there for that purpose. The Doctor whooped. "See! I know what I'm doing most of the time! We are exiting SB9's atmosphere right now!"

"I suppose you do." She giggled.

After a few more violent twists and turns, The Doctor wiped the hair away from his eyes. "We're here, sort of. But first..."

Natalie grinned nervously. "Oh, goo- First? What do you- Oh, wow..."

The Time Lord flipped a joystick-like switch, and the TARDIS stopped. He smiled softly and strolled towards the doors. "The moon can wait just a little bit longer. I thought it fair to give you something less stressful." The Doctor opened the doors slowly, revealing the deep space outside.

Natalie stared out at the stars glittering far away, eyes wide. The girl slowly approached, until she was standing directly beside the Doctor. "I don't understand. Shouldn't we be getting sucked out?"

"It's the TARDIS. She has a fail-safe that prevents death in her interior. She's got her own air-lock. She can also translate any language, written or spoken, into English." He sat down on the edge and let his feet dangle. "Never gets old... I'd say breathe it in, but I don't think it would help the situation."

"How... Interesting." Natalie couldn't think of anything to describe the many emotions she felt. it was just so overwhelming. "Any language? Wow, that's amazing... Do you mind?"

"Not at all, go ahead." He smiled calmly. She sat down next to him on the edge, staring out at the endless depth of space.

"You know, if you told me we were about to confront the Judoon right now, I'd think you were lying." He put his hands behind his head and sighed. Grinning, he pulled a bit of his hair down his forehead; it was just barely long enough to reach the top of his vision. "Ginger... finally..." He put his hands in his pockets, not sure what to do with his hands at the moment; he was used to being so busy.

"Why do I feel like, even if someone knew you for 1000 years, they still wouldn't understand you, Doctor?" Natalie murmured, swinging her feet as she stared out at the beautiful sight. "Why is it so exciting that you have ginger hair? What else don't I know yet?" She grinned, still not looking at him, her breathing finally calm and steady.

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Because, Natalie, I change. I change a lot. I die- have died, quite frequently. I'm still the same person mentally, but I change physically every time. My people called it regeneration. I actually regenerated right before I met you, so you were the first person I saw with this face."

He smiled. "It's exciting; You never know what you'll get. I've never been a ginger before, and have always wanted to. As for the teenager part, I wasn't expecting that. It's a big change, and a lot of my friends can't take it. So they leave, or never treat me the same."

Natalie's eyes grew wider with every word he spoke. "But... But..." She fell silent, heartbeat racing as she glanced over at him, unable to speak, and simply listened to him speak. "They leave...? But, why? If you're still the same person, really, why would it matter? That's just horrible..." She shook her head.

He leaned back on the floor on the TARDIS. "Mind reading is one of the few things I actually can't do, so I haven't the slightest idea." He pulled his legs back and held his knees to his chest. "But I'm pretty good at guessing. Imaging running off with a man who offered to show you everything. You get to know and trust him. You'd put your life on the line for him, and he'd most definitely do the same. Then imagine watching him die... and then change completely. Would you honestly trust him right away?"

Natalie stared sympathetically at him, her green gaze soft. As he spoke, her heart ached for him. He sounded so sad, so alone. She imagined how much he'd been through, with his many lives. And if all of the people who had traveled with him were human, but he could never die, then... He would have lost so many friends. She forced out a reply, her throat choked up. "Yes, I would."

The Doctor sat up, softly meeting Natalie's gaze and smiling. "Why do you have to be so... human?"

"Is that a bad thing?" Natalie chuckled, a new warm light in her gaze. Friendship.

Reluctantly, he stood up, dusted off his new leather jacket, and offered his hand to Natalie. He coughed abruptly. "So... moon? I've got someone to scold." He had put back up his shield for the moment, and focused on what had to be done.

She took his hand and slowly stood up, "Moon sounds great to me, Doctor." She murmured, having a new respect for him now. She sensed his mood change and simply rolled with it.

"Right! Sigma Beach 9, moon numero three!" He sprinted over to the console and grabbed at a metallic orange crank jutting out of the side. He cranked it around about six and a half times, and pushed a small green button. The TARDIS wheezed, then chimed one single clang of the cloister bell. He looked up a Natalie, a grave seriousness on his face. "Okay; we are about to step practically into the hands of the Judoon. They are incredibly frightening and a bit dull. I need you to do exactly what I say, and stay calm." He walked over to her, his eyes cloudy, "I promise you that we will leave here safely, all three of us. I promise."

Natalie studied his movements. There were so many cranks and buttons on the control panel, how did he do it? The clang startled her thoughts away, she she looked up to see the Doctor staring gravely at her. At his words, a shiver ran down her spine, but she nodded slowly, looking scared but determined. "I'll keep you to that promise." She murmured, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

He smiled. "Okay." Brushing his hair back, he opened the doors, and took a step outside. His nose came directly into contact with a large gun. A large rhino-like creature stood behind the gun, with two other identical rhinos flanking the middle one, mirroring the middle's position. "Who exactly are you? And how did you infiltrate the Judoon?!" The doctor nudge the gun down, only to have it replaced the one of the middle Judoon's friends' gun. "Hello! I'm the Doctor! Behind me is my friend Natalie; I'll take her gun-to-the-nose experience for her, thank you. I'm here about a certain criminal?"

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